A Meaningless Game
by twentythirteen
Summary: After a string of high-profile kidnappings, the ninja world learns that an inevitable and horrifying war is on the horizon. Powerful shinobi, both alive and dead, begin to prepare to fight, and conflicts between allies as well as between enemies further intensify the battles. As multiple factions with various goals scramble to kill and survive, the ninja world is torn apart.
1. The Red-Eyed Kidnapper

_Hello and thank you for reading. The events in this story take place one year after the conclusion of the Fourth Shinobi War, so everything before that point is considered canon here. However, some characters' abilities and powers have been slightly nerfed (mainly Naruto and Sasuke) so that they don't just steamroll all their enemies. Other than that, most things will remain the same. Once again, thanks for reading._

* * *

"Alright everyone, try to settle down," Shikamaru said as he surveyed the large room packed with villagers.

Unfortunately for him, the villagers ignored his command and continued on chattering among themselves, causing Shikamaru to sigh in resignation.

Team 10 had been sent to a small hamlet near the border of the Land of Iron called Forge Village in order to gather information on a high-profile kidnapping case. On a hill above Forge Village stood a castle called the Forge Keep, and within it the lord who ruled over the village and its surrounding areas.

Apparently the lord's daughter had been taken, so the Hokage sent Team 10 to Forge Village in order to gather any intelligence they could about the crime. Forge Village was an important source of steel and iron ore for the Hidden Leaf, as well as a helpful military asset in times of war. The Forge Keep had three hundred soldiers under its command, and though these soldiers were not ninjas, they were clad in steel armor and could still be useful if a conflict were to arise.

Team 10 had went to the keep itself first in order to talk to the lord, but the man was so overwhelmed with grief that he was unable to provide them with any useful information. The servants and guards of the castle didn't seem to know much either, so Team 10 was forced to talk to the villagers. Shikamaru had gathered all the commoners in the main meeting hall of Forge Village, but they seemed unable to quiet down long enough for Shikamaru to actually begin his questioning.

Shikamaru sighed again and shoved his hands into his pockets. _This is so troublesome._

Choji had apparently seen enough and stopped shoveling potato chips into his mouth in order to yell, "SHUT UP!"

After that, the villagers fell quiet and turned to face the three Leaf shinobi standing at the front of the room.

"Thank you, Choji," Shikamaru said somewhat sarcastically as he tried to ignore the ringing in his ears.

He then addressed the villagers. "Now, as you all know, the Forge Lord's daughter was recently abducted from her castle. Our purpose here is to gather all the information we can about the kidnapping, so we were wondering if any of you noticed anything strange on the days preceding the crime."

The villagers turned to one another and began muttering, but one man stood up from his seat. He was an old man with a long, white beard and equally white hair, and he wore brown robes and a pair of worn-out sandals. He carried a cane with him, and he leaned on it heavily as he stood. Shikamaru recognized him as the village elder who met Team 10 at the gate when they first arrived at Forge Village.

Shikamaru nodded to him. "Go ahead, Elder Kosuke."

The village elder cleared his throat before speaking. "I don't know whether this would be helpful, but… I had a dream, or at least I believe it was a dream, the night before the kidnapping. I dreamt of a man, a man with red eyes… I don't remember much of the rest of the dream, but I know that I have never dreamt of that man before, and I haven't had the same dream ever since."

The old man looked around awkwardly before slowly sitting back down.

"Thank you, Elder Kosuke. That was very helpful. Anyone else have anything they want to share?"

Shikamaru waited for a few seconds but was only met with silence.

"Alright, then we're done here. Ino, Choji, let's go. Thank you for you time, everyone."

Shikamaru walked out of the wooden building and started to make his way out of the village, the wheels in his mind already turning.

Ino caught up to him and grabbed his arm. "Shikamaru, what are you doing? We barely got any information from them!"

"Yeah, that old guy just told us about some weird dream he had," Choji said between mouthfuls as he also stepped in beside Shikamaru.

"That 'weird dream' was actually pretty helpful," Shikamaru replied. "And that 'old guy' was the village elder, and he's respected by everyone, including the lord. Get it now?"

"... Just explain it to us," Ino said, frustration evident in her tone.

Shikamaru sighed. "Fine. Why would the elder bother sharing a dream he had if he didn't think it was important? And notice how he said he 'thought' it was a dream, meaning he wasn't actually sure. Now, what do red eyes and a dream-like state have in common?"

Ino's blue eyes brightened with realization. "Sharingan genjutsu."

"Exactly. And why would someone use genjutsu on the village elder, of all people?"

"Because they wanted an easy way into the castle," Choji finished.

Shikamaru nodded. "See, I knew you two weren't completely stupid."

"That doesn't answer everything, though," Ino said. "Why would Sasuke want to kidnap the Forge Lord's daughter?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I was wondering about that too. The best that I could come up with is that it's another one of his and Naruto's deranged plans that they forgot to share with the Hokage."

"What kind of plan involves kidnapping a lord's daughter? And couldn't Sasuke have just asked her nicely to come with him?" Choji wondered.

"When does Sasuke ever ask for anything nicely?" Ino pointed out.

"Even so, something is definitely wrong here," Shikamaru interjected. "We need to confront Sasuke directly about this if we want any concrete answers."

Team 10 then made the two-and-a-half day journey back to the Hidden Leaf, and when they arrived at the village gates, the sun had set and the sky was alight with the twinkling of stars.

As the three Leaf ninja slowed their pace to a walk and the gates opened for them, Choji's stomach began to grumble.

"Man, I'm famished. What do you say to some barbeque, guys?"

"We're not done our mission yet," Shikamaru reminded him. "We still have to talk to Sasuke."

"You guys looking for Sasuke?" Kotetsu, one of the guards on gate duty, asked. "You just missed him. I think he said he was heading to the hospital."

"The hospital?" Shikamaru wondered out loud.

"Yeah," Kotetsu replied. "He looked pretty beat-up when he got here."

 _That's strange,_ Shikamaru thought. _None of the guards at Forge Keep said they saw anybody, so it couldn't have been them who attacked Sasuke._

Team 10 then headed to the hospital and found Sasuke's room fairly quickly, mostly thanks to Ino, who was a former employee. When they arrived at the Uchiha's room, they found Sakura inside with him.

Sasuke was sitting on the bed shirtless, the stump where his left arm used to be in full view. What Shikamaru also noticed was a long red line going down from Sasuke's right shoulder to his abdomen, indicating a freshly-healed wound.

Sakura was busy wrapping bandages around Sasuke's wrist, but she looked up when Team 10 entered.

"Oh, hey guys," she greeted.

Shikamaru nodded to her and then gestured to Sasuke. "What happened to him?"

"He says he was attacked by Rock ninja," Sakura offered.

Sasuke only grunted in agreement.

"Uh-huh, likely story," Choji said, not bothering to hide his suspicion.

Sasuke glared at him. "What are you three even doing here?"

"We heard about your visit to Forge Village, so don't bother to try and hide it," Ino told him.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What are you talking about?"

Shikamaru then relayed all the events of their mission to Sasuke and Sakura.

Sakura shook her head after hearing it. "There's no way Sasuke did that. He went to the Hidden Grass for a diplomatic mission, so he couldn't have been at Forge Keep."

"Maybe he's lying," Choji pointed out.

"What did you just say?" Sasuke asked, his tone dripping with venom.

"Look, based on the evidence, you're the prime suspect," Shikamaru cut in. "Choji's right. You could be lying for all we know."

"I'm not fucking lying," Sasuke growled. "Ask Kakashi. He'll tell you the truth."

Shikamaru nodded. "Fine, we'll speak to the Hokage. But we'll be back."

Team 10 then left a furious Sasuke and a confused Sakura and headed towards the Hokage Tower to report on their findings. They entered the Hokage's office to find the room deserted save for Kakashi himself.

Kakashi wore the Hokage's cloak over his standard jonin vest, and the signature red Hokage hat rested on his desk. The silver-haired ninja was busy filling out some paperwork with his head resting in his hand, clearly bored out of his mind. He looked up when the three members of Team 10 entered.

"Ah, you're back," he said as he eagerly put his pen down and brushed his paperwork aside. "Did you discover anything?"

"Well… We have a few suspects in mind. By the way, did you happen to send Sasuke on a diplomatic mission to the Hidden Grass?" Shikamaru asked.

"Huh? Sasuke?... No, I don't believe so."

Shikamaru's eyes widened. _So he was lying!_ "Then that means that Sasuke -"

"Oh, wait, I remember now. I did send him to the Hidden Grass," Kakashi interrupted sheepishly.

Shikamaru sighed. "Then I guess Sasuke isn't the one who kidnapped the Forge Lord's daughter."

Kakashi looked confused. "You suspected Sasuke? He was in the Hidden Grass, so there's no way he could have done it."

Shikamaru relayed all the information he learned from the village elder to Kakashi, but the Hokage only shook his head.

"I still don't think it was Sasuke," Kakashi said. "Like I told you before, I sent him to the Hidden Grass, and I don't see why Sasuke would want to kidnap a lord's daughter."

"There's still the possibility that Sasuke could have lied to you about going to the Hidden Grass. He did go by himself after all, so there's no one to confirm his story," Ino pointed out.

"And the evidence suggests the Sharingan was the culprit," Shikamaru added. "Sasuke is the last living Uchiha."

Kakashi leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head. "Maybe so, but that still doesn't explain why Sasuke would deliberately attack one of the Land of Fire's most important lords."

"We'd like to question him about that," Shikamaru said.

Kakashi shrugged. "If you want to."

"I do." Based on the evidence, Shikamaru didn't see how the culprit could have been anyone else but Sasuke, and it was rare that Shikamaru's hypotheses were proven incorrect.

Kakashi went back to his paperwork. "Fine. Report back with your findings. Dismissed."

Team 10 walked out of the Hokage's office and into the carpeted hallway of the top floor of the tower. Shikamaru sighed.

"This whole thing is turning out to be a lot more troublesome than I expected," he complained.

"Yeah," Ino agreed. "But maybe Kakashi-sensei is right. Why would Sasuke do such a thing?"

Shikamaru looked up at the ceiling in thought. "I can't seem to figure it out. That's what's been bothering me."

"The only thing that's been bothering me is my empty stomach," Choji said. "I say we put this mission on hold and get some dinner."

"Choji!" Ino yelled as she smacked him. "Will you stop thinking about food for once!"

Just then, a man dressed in the gray uniform of the Torture and Interrogation Corps rounded the corner and waved at Team 10.

"Ino! I thought I heard your voice," the man said. "It's a good thing you're back. Ibiki said he wants you over there immediately."

Ino groaned. "Sorry guys. Let me know how the mission goes."

"Alright. Have fun," Shikamaru said as he lazily waved goodbye.

"We're missing a team member now, so we should put the mission on hold and get something to eat," Choji decided.

Shikamaru ignored him and continued out of the tower and towards the hospital. Choji sighed sadly and followed him.

When the two finally got back to the hospital, they made it just in time to intercept Sasuke as he left the building. The Uchiha had on his dark blue cloak which hid his missing arm, but the bulge of his signature sword was still visible through the fabric.

"Not satisfied yet?" Sasuke asked as Shikamaru and Choji walked up to him, his tone antagonistic.

"So it turns out that Kakashi-sensei did send you to the Hidden Grass, but what's to say that you didn't lie to him? For all we know, you could have gone to Forge Keep and just said you completed the mission you were assigned," Shikamaru told him.

"So now you're saying I lied to the Hokage? This is absurd, and I don't have to waste my time with this." Sasuke shoved past the two and continued walking away from the hospital grounds.

Shikamaru almost grabbed Sasuke's arm to stop him from walking away, but then thought better of it. He rather liked his hand, and wouldn't want to have it detached from his body.

"Look, we're not accusing you of anything," the future Nara clan head opted to say instead. "We just want to get all the facts straight."

Sasuke turned and glared. "Here's a fact for you: keep following me and I'll kill you both."

Choji gulped, but Shikamaru was unfazed. "You not helping us with our investigation only stacks the evidence against you."

"I don't know what else I can do to help you. You're obviously on the wrong track, but the 'Genius of the Leaf' doesn't want to admit it," Sasuke said in a mocking tone.

Shikamaru ignored the insult. "Well, you can start by telling us why those Rock ninja attacked you. We're supposed to be allies with the Hidden Rock."

"I don't know why they attacked me, but I'm about to find out. I wasn't dumb enough to kill them, so I captured them alive and handed them over to the Torture and Interrogation Corps. I'm heading over there right now. You two can come along, I suppose."

Shikamaru stared at him incredulously. "And you couldn't have told us this earlier?"

Sasuke just grunted in response and then began walking in the direction of the Hokage Tower. Shikamaru sighed and followed him.

Once inside the tower, they headed up a series of stairs before arriving at the floor which belonged to the Torture and Interrogation Corps. Sasuke led them through the hallway before stopping at one of the doors. He knocked, and the door opened.

Inside the room was a group of ninja from the Torture and Interrogation Corps. They wore their signature gray uniforms, and the leader of the division, Ibiki Moreno, nodded when he saw Sasuke enter.

"We're working on getting the information out of them right now," Ibiki said as he jerked his head towards the center of the room.

In the middle of the room and tied down to a circle of chairs were four bloodied Rock ninja. They wore the standard brown vest and red cloth of the Hidden Rock, and they all appeared to be unconscious.

Ino stood over one of the Rock ninja, her hand on the top of the man's head and her eyes shut in concentration. After a few seconds, she removed her hand and opened her eyes. She blinked in surprise at seeing Shikamaru and Choji, but nevertheless turned to Ibiki and made her report.

"The attack on Sasuke was a direct order from the Tsuchikage. According to the information I've gathered, they wanted Sasuke because he kidnapped their feudal lord's son," she said.

"What!" Sasuke blurted out.

Ibiki stroked his chin in thought. "Hm… That certainly is strange. Sasuke, care to explain this to us?"

Sasuke glanced around the room, clearly uncomfortable. "It's a lie."

"At least this means he was telling the truth about the Forge Lord, right Shikamaru?" Ino said.

Shikamaru nodded. "It's ridiculous to think that Sasuke had the time and resources to commit both crimes in such a short period without being noticed by us. I believe that Sasuke went to complete his mission in the Hidden Grass, and that he was not the perpetrator in either of these crimes."

Sasuke nodded in agreement. "And ever since I've been back in the Leaf, I've been under constant surveillance. Though I was sent to the Hidden Grass alone, I doubt Kakashi would have missed it had I went all the way to Forge Village and then went deep enough into the Land of Rocks to kidnap the feudal lord's son.

"Wait… What's this about Forge Village?" Ibiki asked.

Shikamaru was too busy thinking to answer. _But if Sasuke wasn't the criminal, who was? The Hidden Rock's kidnapper must have also had the Sharingan, as that would be the only surefire way of marking Sasuke as the main suspect… But this means that both kidnappings were perpetrated by the same, unknown Uchiha. Who the hell could it be?_

Choji echoed Shikamaru's thoughts. "Well… If Sasuke didn't do it, then who did?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He turned to Shikamaru. "There's someone else with the Sharingan out there, isn't there?

"There would have to be, but that would also be impossible. You're the last Sharingan user alive," Shikamaru said.

"If Sasuke's the last one alive… What if it's someone who isn't alive?" Ino asked.

"Wait, what the hell is going on here?" Ibiki demanded.

Sasuke ignored him. "You mean like an Edo Tensei-type revival? There's no way. Orochimaru and Kabuto are the only ones who can use it, and they're also being watched constantly."

"Even so, Edo Tensei is the most likely option," Shikamaru said. "So we should start there. Choji, report back to the Hokage. Ino, Sasuke, come with me. We're going to see Orochimaru."

The trio then left the Hokage Tower and headed towards the subterranean safehouse where Orochimaru and Kabuto were being held. As the group approached the safehouse, they saw Yamato standing guard at the entrance. Though only the wood-style user was visible, Shikamaru knew that the area was guarded by a whole group of ANBU who preferred to remain hidden.

Yamato was leaning against a wall, his eyelids drooping as he struggled to stay awake. Unfortunately for him, his rest was interrupted when Sasuke strode up to him.

"Have you noticed anything strange with Orochimaru or Kabuto lately?" Sasuke demanded.

Yamato grunted sleepily. "Good evening to you too, Sasuke." He then noticed Shikamaru and Ino. "Oh, you guys are here too?"

Shikamaru explained the situation to Yamato.

"... There's no way Orochimaru or Kabuto brought anyone back to life without us noticing," Yamato said as he shook his head. "Plus, whoever he revived would have had to make it out of the compound, and in that case he definitely would have been detected."

"We would like to speak with Orochimaru ourselves," Sasuke asked, though it sounded more like an order.

Yamato shrugged. "Go ahead. I doubt you'll learn anything. Try not to get killed."

The trio entered into the the Snake Sannin's dank lair. The air smelled of rot and strange chemicals, and an odd odor that Shikamaru couldn't place pervaded the base. The corridors were narrow and dark, and the three ninja followed one until it led to a large, open circular area.

Inside of this courtyard-like space was a cluster of desks, each one littered with various papers and books. The light from the moon filtered into the area from above, bringing some natural lighting to the otherwise dark area.

A candle was lit at one of the desks, and a man in a hood Shikamaru assumed to be Kabuto was currently seated at the desk. Orochimaru stood over Kabuto, deeply interested in whatever the former medic was busy with. However, once he heard footsteps, the Sannin turned around and regarded the three ninja with a slimy smile.

"Ah, Sasuke, good of you to drop by," Orochimaru said even as his eyes were fixated on Shikamaru and Ino. "And who are you two?"

"I am Shika -"

"Don't worry about who they are," Sasuke interrupted. The last Uchiha strode up to Orochimaru. "I think you know why we're here."

Orochimaru's reptilian eyes narrowed, but his disturbing smile remained in place. "I'm afraid I don't. Care to enlighten me, dear Sasuke?"

"Listen up, you slimy fuck," Sasuke said with venom lacing his tone. "If I find out that you brought back Itachi or any other one of my relatives against their will with your twisted jutsu, I will put you in such pain that you won't be able to think straight for the rest of your pathetic excuse for a life."

Orochimaru's grin widened. "My, my, Sasuke. What's all this about?"

Sasuke's Sharingan sprung into action, his three tomoes spinning rapidly within the red eye. "Don't play games with me, Orochimaru. This is your final warning."

Shikamaru decided it was best that he stepped in before things got violent. He walked up next to Sasuke and reluctantly turned his gaze towards Orochimaru.

"We're here on official business. Apparently there have been a string of high-profile kidnappings recently, and the culprit is noted to be a Sharingan wielder. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Orochimaru regarded Shikamaru with cold, calculating eyes, and the future Nara clan head suppressed the urge to flinch under the Sannin's stare.

"... No, I wouldn't," Orochimaru finally replied. "Sounds like you should be questioning Sasuke here, not me."

"Don't change the subject," Sasuke growled. "Everyone knows I had nothing to do with this."

"Really? You're the only Sharingan user I know of, Sasuke," Orochimaru said with a smile, clearly trying to anger the young Uchiha.

"It's not like he's going to tell us if he was behind this," Ino pointed out, though Shikamaru noticed that she remained far away from Orochimaru.

"Then we'll make him," Sasuke said, his eyes still gleaming red with the Sharingan.

Shikamaru sighed. "She's right, Sasuke. We don't have any proof, and we certainly aren't going to get anything out of Orochimaru. If none of the ANBU saw anything suspicious, maybe we should take their word for it."

Sasuke turned on him. "And then what? We just leave it at that and let my name be slandered by my accusers?"

Before Shikamaru could think of a reply, rapid footsteps approached from behind. Everyone in the plaza turned to watch Yamato run out from one of the corridors, his chest heaving with exertion.

Yamato took a second to recompose himself before he spoke. "Sorry to interrupt, but you all will want to hear this. Hinata - she's gone."

"What do you mean 'she's gone'?" Ino demanded.

"Someone took her," Yamato replied. "Naruto was with her, but the enemy took them by surprise. He said…"

"He said what?" Shikamaru prodded, though he already knew where this was going.

"The kidnapper… He had the Sharingan."


	2. Back from the Dead

Itachi Uchiha twirled a kunai around his finger as he sat beside the ocean. A few lanterns were lit around the dock he rested on, but other than that, the area was shrouded in darkness. A sea breeze made his black hair dance, but the chill the wind brought on felt more like a slap than a caress.

He was currently in a small village on the coast of the Land of Fire, waiting for his partners to finish their business. He had a lot on his mind, but he found it painful to dwell on his thoughts.

 _And yet, here I sit,_ he thought glumly. He looked up at the full moon in order to try and glean some sense of calm from it, but the light from it was shrouded by a stray cloud.

Just then, footsteps sounded on the wooden dock as two figures approached. Itachi did not need to turn around to know whom they belonged to.

"Did he leave?" Itachi asked the pair.

"He did," came a gruff voice in reply. "I still don't understand why we had to come all the way out here if he was only going to the Sound, though."

"The Leaf has a strict border policy when it comes to traveling to and from the Land of Sound," Itachi said. "They don't trust the land that Orochimaru founded, and they're wise to do so."

"We could have killed the border patrol and fought our way through," said the second figure. "Not all of us are afraid to get our hands dirty, Itachi."

Itachi finally turned around, his Sharingan giving his eyes a red gleam. "You're a fool, Hidan. Bloodshed should only be used as a last resort. It's much easier to take the path of least resistance."

"Hidan being a fool? Can't say I'm surprised," Kakazu noted with disdain.

Hidan snorted. "Hmph. Make all the excuses you want, it won't change a thing. Now, are we going to find an inn or are we just going to sit by the docks all night? Some alcohol and women wouldn't hurt either."

Itachi gave the black water one last look before standing up. "I saw a traditional inn by the dumpling shop earlier today. That should suffice for tonight."

Kakazu nodded. "Let's go, then."

The trio made their way through town, their Akatsuki cloaks and strange appearances not drawing too many looks. People in villages such as this tended to mind their own business, and they cared more about their crops, their families, and what they would catch when they went out fishing today than they did about S-ranked criminals who were supposed to be dead.

The three made it to the inn unmolested, and they were able to book three separate rooms in the largely empty but strikingly beautiful inn. The lobby of the inn had a large mural depicting a battle of samurai, and a cherry blossom tree grew in the middle of the floor. Itachi marveled at the beauty of the plant, but he kept his thoughts to himself as he doubted his companions cared much for decor.

They walked up a short flight of stairs before arriving at their adjacent rooms. Itachi was about to enter his, hoping to escape an awkward exchange of 'goodnights' with his comrades, but he was stopped when Hidan spoke to him.

"So Itachi, what do you think Orochimaru wants to do with these people he's having us kidnap?"

"I don't know." He grabbed the doorknob and was planning on leaving it at that, but Hidan began talking again.

"Ah, so the famous Itachi Uchiha is just as stumped as foolish Hidan, then. And here I thought your intelligence just might be comparable to Orochimaru's."

Itachi knew that Hidan was just trying to goad him, but something made him reply anyway.

"It's obvious what he wants to achieve with the kidnappings. Orochimaru is abducting people related to key figures in the Five Great Nations, so he's clearly trying to incite some sort of conflict. The fact that he deliberately had me show my Sharingan to the victims hints that he wants to try and pin the blame on Sasuke, or the Leaf Village at the very least."

"And what does he gain from doing that?" Kakazu asked.

"... That part I'm still not one-hundred percent clear on," Itachi admitted.

The obvious answer was that Orochimaru wanted to destroy the Leaf, but Itachi had a feeling that there was something more behind this.

"That snake bastard has always had a grudge against the Leaf," Hidan said with a shrug. "Probably nothing more to it than that. Goodnight, fellas."

Hidan went into his room, and Itachi finally thought he could retire for the night as well. He was wrong.

"Itachi," Kakazu began. "Why did Orochimaru bring the Akatsuki of all people back? And how did he do it? This is no Edo Tensei."

Itachi sighed inwardly. More questions he had no answers to. "I'm working on finding that out."

Itachi opened his door and finally entered his room for the night. The accommodations were simple but elegant. A small bed rested in the corner beside a polished wooden desk, but the best part of the room was the view. A large window looked out over the small village, and the glow of the moon on the shimmering sea was visible in the distance.

Itachi gazed out the window and remembered the third kidnapping he committed, this one only a few days ago. He could vividly recall the shocked look on Naruto's face as Itachi swept in and stole Hinata, and the fear in the Hyuga girl's eyes right before she was knocked out by his genjutsu was almost palpable.

Kisame had taken the Hyuga heiress to a secure location in the Hidden Sound where the rest of the victims were being held, as per Orochimaru's orders. Though the jutsu Orochimaru was employing clearly wasn't Edo Tensei, Itachi and the rest of the Akatsuki were still firmly under the Snake Sannin's control.

Even though he had been brought back to life again, Itachi knew he did not have the chakra-replenishing and regenerative capabilities this time around. He was more or less the same as he had been while living, though the illness that hastened his death seemed to have disappeared. He was also wearing an Akatsuki cloak and was equipped with the rest of his gear, so Orochimaru had clearly tinkered with his body before the Sannin revived Itachi. The thought of Orochimaru dressing Itachi up like a doll angered and disgusted him.

 _That aside… Why is Orochimaru using this jutsu instead of Edo Tensei? Is it because he knows that I memorized the hand seals to undo the Edo Tensei?_

He would find no answers by staring out the window. He turned away and sat down on his bed, removing his cloak and his sandals. He hoped rest would clear his head.

* * *

"I don't care, I'm going!" Naruto yelled as he slammed his fist down on Kakashi's desk.

Kakashi sighed and rubbed his temple. "Going where? We don't know who took Hinata, and we definitely don't know where they went."

"I'm going to find answers. We've waited almost three days, and we still haven't found out anything! It's obvious that I need to handle this myself," Naruto declared.

"Will you calm down, Naruto?" Sakura asked, though it seemed more like a demand than a question.

"Yeah, you're acting like an idiot. Though I suppose that's nothing new," Sasuke remarked from where he stood beside Naruto and Sakura.

Naruto wheeled around to glare at Sasuke. "Sasuke, shut the fuck up. I'm not in the mood for your bullshit."

Sasuke was not one to back down from any challenge, real or perceived, so he countered with a glare of his own. "Yeah? Well I'm _never_ in the mood for _your_ bullshit."

"Why don't both of you shut up?" Sakura interrupted. "This is a serious matter, and you two are only making things harder."

"Thank you. At least one of my students has some sense," Kakashi said. "Now, here's what we're going to do. Naruto, since you clearly have issues with patience, I'll allow you to go out looking for Hinata."

"Alright, then I'm -"

"Not so fast," Kakashi interrupted. "You're taking Sakura and Sasuke with you, and we're going to do this in a logical, thought out manner."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at that. "So we _do_ know where to start looking?"

"Well, uh… Shikamaru, take it from here."

Shikamaru, who was currently standing beside the Hokage, blinked in surprise.

Kakashi felt no remorse at handing off the task to his advisor, but he doubted Shikamaru was even paying attention to half the things that were just said.

"Oh, uh, right…" Shikamaru began. "Well, our main theory right now is that Hinata and the others were taken by the same person."

"I know that!" Naruto yelled. "Just tell me where the hell I can find this guy!"

Shikamaru muttered something under his breath before speaking again.

"Look, we don't know any specifics just yet. However, the culprit is clearly a Sharingan user, and all the Uchihas save for Sasuke are dead. This means that the only logical explanation is that the Reanimation Jutsu known as Edo Tensei brought someone back to life, and since the only two people alive who can use this jutsu are Orochimaru and Kabuto, the culprit is most likely hiding out somewhere in the Hidden Sound."

"The Hidden Sound?" Sakura repeated. "But I thought that we cleared that nation out of the remainder of Orochimaru's supporters."

"We did, but it would be the safest place for Orochimaru to stash his victims, don't you think?" Shikamaru replied.

Naruto nodded, his blue eyes resolute. "The Hidden Sound it is."

With that, Naruto stomped out of the Hokage's office.

"You two should go after him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," Kakashi said. "And good luck."

Sakura bowed and exited the room, but Sasuke lingered behind.

"How do we even know that Orochimaru did this, or that he hid these people in the Sound?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you convinced Orochimaru was the culprit a few days ago?"

"Nothing is certain," Kakashi said. "But I had to give Naruto something to do, or he'd end up exploding out of fury."

"So I'm just being sent along to clean up Naruto's mess?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "That's the essence of Team Seven."

Sasuke glared at Kakashi and Shikamaru before he too left after Naruto.

"So," Kakashi began once only he and his advisor remained in the room. "Was everything you just said a bunch of bullshit?"

Shikamaru sighed. "I don't know. Maybe. The information we have doesn't make much sense, so I did the best I could with it."

"Hm. That'll have to do, I suppose. Now, there is the other matter that must be resolved. Did you set up a meeting with the Tsuchikage?"

Shikamaru nodded. "It's in the Hidden Grass, two days from now. However, judging from the tone of her letter, she doesn't seem happy."

Kakashi leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head.

"Understandable. There was one thing I was wondering, though. Why didn't the Hidden Rock try to contact us before sending their ninja to attack Sasuke? We're supposed to be allies."

"Despite Sasuke's part in ending the war, a lot of people, understandably, I might add, still don't like him," Shikamaru pointed out as he leaned against the wall and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Maybe the Tsuchikage saw the incident as an excuse to take him out."

"Maybe." Suddenly, Kakashi's eyes grew wide. "Wait. Didn't we schedule a day last week for Naruto to come in and get a feel for what the paperwork associated with being Hokage was like?"

"... Shit."

"That idiot. He probably threw out the initial message," Kakashi said.

"I don't know how we're supposed to survive with Naruto as our next Hokage," Shikamaru lamented. "Hopefully we can still fix this situation."

"We can, and we should leave for the meeting now," Kakashi replied as he stood up.

"Now? The meeting point isn't that far away."

Kakashi grabbed the signature red cloak and hat of the Hokage off his chair and desk.

"True, but this is one meeting I probably shouldn't be late for."

* * *

A young man with long, messy white hair walked up a grassy hill. He wore an ornate white and gold robe, but underneath that was a simple pair of gray pants and an equally unimpressive gray shirt. He carried no weapons with him, but his casual gait and the confidence that overflowed from his golden eyes hinted that he was no stranger to combat.

The sky above him was darkening, and storm clouds had begun to congregate. A gust of wind tousled his hair, and a few stray drops of rain began to fall. As the man reached the summit of the grassy hill, he was met with the sight of four figures.

Three of the figures were dressed in the same robe that he wore, and, also like him, had white hair and gold-colored eyes.

The fourth figure was dead, and his decaying body had fallen to the ground, though the noose from which he had hung himself from was still attached to the gnarled, leafless tree that stood on top of the hill.

"I see our friend is still with us," the young man said as he gestured to the rotting corpse.

One of his companions, a woman, replied. "He _was_ here before us, after all. It would be rude to evict him from his resting place."

"Yes, but he's stinking the place up, don't you think? I don't know why Jiyu chose this of all places as our meeting place," the young man said.

"I thought that someone from his village would come and claim his body," Jiyu replied. He had white hair and golden eyes like his companions, but he had a square jaw and was much burlier than the others.

"Maybe he had no one that cared for him, and that's why he killed himself. Did you ever think of that, hm?" The young man asked.

"I do have to admit, if we ignore the dead body, this place is very scenic," the woman interjected.

"Alright, enough about the location," the final figure said. He was an older man, and he wore a white beard and had his hair tied in a low ponytail. "We have business to discuss, no?"

"We do," Jiyu agreed. "Konton, since you were the last to arrive, why don't you start?"

The young man smirked. "Sure, why not? Everything is good on my end. This Orochimaru is more clever than I thought. He's using my gifts to him quite well, if I do say so myself."

The slow rumbling of thunder sounded overhead, and the wind picked up again.

The bearded man nodded. "Good. All my pieces have been set up as well. How about you, Chikara?"

The woman smiled. "I've done my part, don't worry about me."

The three then turned to Jiyu, who crossed his arms defensively.

"I will get around to it," he said.

Konton sighed. "You know, you're not going to win this bet if you don't even try."

Jiyu glared at him. "Of course I will! Justice always prevails, you'll see. You will all see."

"There is no justice in this world," the bearded man said.

"Still an optimist, eh Fukushu?" Konton teased.

"No, I am simply honest," Fukushu replied, his expression stern.

Konton shrugged and began walking away. "Whatever you say. Just know that you all had better step up, or my soldiers will end this little game before it even begins. Especially you, Jiyu."

With that, Konton began the descent down the hill as the rain began to fall more steadily. He could just as easily teleport out of the area, but he always enjoyed a good walk in the rain.

He considered what he had heard at the meeting. Apparently he was far more prepared than the other three members of his clan, but that wasn't very surprising. Though he gave off a laid-back vibe, Konton always completed his tasks with ruthless efficiency, and this little "bet" would be no different.

The four white-haired, golden-eyed extraterrestrials were the last surviving members of the Otsutsuki clan. They had spent most of their lives in solitude, largely ignoring the shinobi world, but two years ago they had heard about Kaguya's resurrection and her eventual defeat. The event had brought the four Otsutsukis together again, and they found that they had a lot to discuss.

All four of them were amazed at the fact that a handful of young shinobi were able to defeat Kaguya, the matriarch of the Otsutsuki clan, and they attempted to come up with reasons why. Jiyu had insisted that the righteousness in the hearts of the shinobi had led them to victory, but Chikara thought that it was their power that caused them to come out on top. Fukushu had said that it was the shinobi's desire for revenge for their fallen comrades that spurred them on, and Konton himself had simply thought that it was the chaos and desire to destroy that lay dormant in the hearts of man that won them the battle.

These differing beliefs led to an argument, and, in an effort to find the true answer, the four had decided to test out their theories. Each one of them could choose a shinobi, alive or dead, that best encompassed their respective beliefs. This shinobi would lead a fighting force of a group of other powerful ninja, and whichever group ended up conquering in the end would prove which ideology was the right one.

Konton had chosen Orochimaru to be his captain. The morbidly curious nature of the Sannin and his desire to spread destruction to fulfill that curiosity spoke to Konton, and it hadn't taken much convincing to get Orochimaru to go along with the plan. Konton was also essentially delivering nine powerful shinobi into Orochimaru's control, and he would allow the Sannin to do as he pleased with them.

Konton did not know who the other three had chosen as their captains, but he had no doubt that they would be just as formidable as Orochimaru. Still, he was confident that Orochimaru and the Akatsuki would claim victory in the end. Orochimaru's string of kidnappings had already sown the seeds of war in the ninja world, and he knew that this was only the beginning.

He smiled to himself as the raindrops increased in intensity.

 _Chaos… Nothing in this world is more powerful._


	3. A Snake in the Dark

The Hidden Sound Village was a small, poor town sitting squarely in the middle of the Land of Sound. The village itself was unimpressive, and it wasn't even half the size of Konoha. The whole area looked as if it were one big slum, and brothels and gambling houses were common. Beggars lined the sides of the roads, and the stench of open sewage and horse dung permeated throughout the air.

As Team Seven passed through the meager gates of the village, Sasuke wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Smells amazing," he said sarcastically.

"Well, the leader of this village is in prison," Sakura pointed out. "Not too suprising that the Hidden Sound is poorly-maintained."

"Forget all that," Naruto cut in. "Remember what we're here for. We have to find Hinata."

The blond ninja grit his teeth in frustration, and Sakura couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Naruto and Hinata had recently entered into a relationship, and Naruto was with Hinata the night she was abducted.

 _He must think this whole thing is his fault,_ Sakura thought.

"We don't even know if she's here. Kakashi obviously just sent us here to get rid of you because you were being annoying," Sasuke told Naruto.

"Okay," Sakura cut in before another fight broke out. "Where should we start looking?"

"We'll search the whole village if we have to," Naruto said with a determined look, though it didn't quite answer Sakura's question.

Sasuke sighed in defeat. "Let's split the village up into three sections. The kage tower is in the middle of the village, so Naruto, you search the northern section and Sakura will take the western section. I'll go east."

Naruto nodded and was immediately off, sprinting past the rather frightened civilians who were milling about on the unpaved streets.

Sasuke left soon after, and Sakura went to the westward section of the village in order to complete her task.

She still didn't know exactly where to start, but she figured that she should probably begin by asking around. Sure, it might alert the kidnapper to their presence, but if the perpetrator was who she thought he was, then he surely already knew why three Leaf ninja were in the Hidden Sound.

 _We really should have transformed ourselves before we entered,_ she thought as she looked around for anyone who looked like they might know something.

She finally settled on talking with an old man carrying a small basket of vegetables. As she approached, the old man looked at her warily before averting his gaze and increasing his pace. Sakura cut him off.

"Excuse me, would you mind if I asked you some questions?"

The old man looked at her warily.

Sakura took that as a yes. "Have you seen anyone with red eyes and black hair wearing a black cloak with red clouds pass through here?"

The old man shook his head and hurried away. Sakura sighed in resignation.

 _This is pointless. If Itachi did come here, he definitely wouldn't have paraded himself through town._

Sakura took a moment to observe her surroundings. People continued on with their daily business, though many were giving her strange and even hostile looks. She figured Leaf ninja weren't a welcome sight in the Hidden Sound, which made sense.

 _Well, since I can't ask around, it looks like I'm just going to have to search every building that looks suspicious._

She sighed to herself again and ran a gloved hand through her pink hair. This would take a while.

As she strolled through the streets and looked for good hiding spots for kidnapping victims, she suddenly remembered something. Sasuke had told them all to search the areas around the kage tower, but he didn't say who would search the tower itself.

Sakura glanced at the dilapidated tower that stood tall in the middle of the village. It was remarkably similar to Konoha's Hokage Tower, which wasn't all that surprising considering Orochimaru was probably the one who designed the layout of the Hidden Sound.

She began heading towards the tower. The temporary puppet government set up by the Hidden Leaf probably held their meetings in the tower, but other than that, Sakura didn't see who else would need to use the building. For that reason, she figured that all that extra space would be a perfect place to stash the victims.

As she approached the gateway into the tower, she noticed that two guards stood on either side of the gate. She could tell by the way they carried themselves that they weren't ninja, so she was fairly confident she could take them down if they got in her way. Even so, she preferred to complete the mission with the least amount of bloodshed.

"Excuse me, but I'm here on official business from the Hidden Leaf. I'm going to need to take a look inside the tower."

The two guards looked at each other nervously, before the one on the left spoke.

"... Alright. But make it quick."

Sakura nodded and walked through the poorly-maintained courtyard and into the tower. The lobby of the building was completely deserted save for a lone secretary at the front desk, who was currently asleep. A set of stairs on the right side of the room ascended to the upper levels, and another staircase led downstairs to the basement. Sakura decided to start in the basement and work her way up.

As she descended the staircase, she noticed that the basement was almost completely dark. She drew a kunai and clutched it in one hand as her eyes attempted to adjust to the darkness.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" she called out.

When there was no reply, she took a few more measured steps. Just then, she felt the fine hairs on the back of her neck raise, and she whirled around to see the faint outline of a flurry of needles heading her way.

She leapt backwards, narrowly avoiding the dangerous projectiles. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to announce her presence.

Since her vision was limited, Sakura was forced to rely on her other senses. She heard a quiet clacking noise, and she immediately threw her kunai into the direction of the sound. A resounding 'thud' resulted, indicating she had hit her target.

 _Sounded like it hit something wooden…_

A humanoid shape emerged from the darkness and into her line of sight, and Sakura reflexively cocked her fist back and punched the thing right in the chest. A flurry of splintered wood exploded from the impact, and Sakura realized that she was fighting a puppet.

A brief moment of silence passed before the clacking sound started again. Sakura readied another kunai as she saw three more figures come into her line of sight, but she froze when she saw just who her opponent was.

 _It can't be… Sasori of the Red Sand…_

Sasori regarded her with a curious expression on his face. Two more puppets exactly like the first one Sakura had destroyed flanked him, their backs attached to chakra strings which were barely visible in the darkness.

"So it's you," he said simply.

Sakura grit her teeth. _This guy is supposed to be dead! But then again, so is Itachi…_

Sasori continued to stare at her.

"I'm not alone," Sakura warned. "I can smash the ground open and my teammates will come running at the noise. You're no match for the three of us."

Sasori cocked his head to one side. "Are you afraid of me?"

Sakura smirked. "I'm just not stupid, that's all."

Sasori stood still for a brief moment before speaking. "I see. My work here is done."

Suddenly, the two puppets by Sasori's side simultaneously shot smoke bombs from their mouths. Sakura covered her nose and mouth and sped back up the stairs after hurling her kunai in the general direction of the puppet master. The bombs could have been full of poison for all she knew, and she wasn't going to take any chances in such an enclosed battlefield.

As she re-entered the well-lit lobby, she noticed that Sasori had not followed her upstairs. The secretary, remarkably, was still asleep.

Sakura ran outside the tower and poured an immense amount of chakra in her hand. She then slammed her fist into the ground, causing a shockwave and splitting the earth beneath hear with a resounding crash.

The two gate guards came running with shocked expressions on their faces, but she paid them no mind.

 _Naruto and Sasuke need to know about this._

* * *

He couldn't help but feel tense.

Despite the fact that Kakashi was now Hokage, he knew he wasn't even close to the strongest ninja in the village. The loss of his Sharingan had greatly handicapped him, and the numerous injuries he sustained during the war ensured that he wasn't as spry as he used to be.

Because of this, even the S-ranked ninja Kakashi Hatake was nervous as he went down to Orochimaru's prison cell in order to apprehend him. Of course, Kakashi had brought three ANBU, Shikamaru, and Yamato with him as well, but he still couldn't shake the feeling of dread.

 _This is Orochimaru,_ he reminded himself. _It's better to be safe than sorry._

Kakashi had just returned from his meeting with the Tsuchikage, and she had not been happy. Kurotsuchi was just as hot-headed and stubborn as her grandfather, and she wanted a captive in exchange for the captive that she believed Sasuke Uchiha took. Kakashi had explained the situation to her, but she would not change her position. Shikamaru had finally gotten her to accept Orochimaru as a hostage instead of Sasuke, but now Kakashi still had the task of forcing Orochimaru to comply with this plan.

The small group entered into the atrium of Orochimaru's underground lair and found the Sannin standing in in the middle of the space, looking straight at them. He knew that they were coming. It was a moonless night, and the room was illuminated by a sole lantern which rested on the desk.

"The Hokage himself has come down to see me? Well, this must be something special," Orochimaru observed with a sinister smile.

"We're here to take you into custody for the time being," Kakashi told him.

"Am I not already in your custody?" Orochimaru countered.

"We're going to need to seal your chakra and chain you up for a while, at least until this kidnapping business is resolved," Kakashi clarified, opting not to reveal that they were about to ship him off to the Hidden Rock.

Orochimaru looked amused, which unnerved Kakashi. "Oh? Is that so? So you know for certain that I am the culprit?"

"It's just a precaution," Shikamaru drawled. "Don't take it personally."

Orochimaru smiled again. "Fine. Do as you wish."

Kakashi gestured to two of the ANBU. "Seal and bind him."

As the ANBU approached Orochimaru, Kakashi suddenly froze. An intense killing intent had permeated throughout the air.

"Don't!"

But it was too late. With one fluid motion, one of the ANBU had his throat slit while the other found Orochimaru's kunai pressed up against his neck.

"If anyone of you moves, he dies," the Snake Sannin said.

Shikamaru and Yamato stood still, but in a flash, Kakashi was across the room and had driven his Lightning Blade right through the ANBU and into Orochimaru. The Sannin coughed up blood, some of it flying into Kakashi's face.

"So you killed one of your own men? I didn't know you to be so callous, Kakashi," Orochimaru said weakly.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes angrily. There was nothing he hated more than killing a comrade, but he thought of how many more would die if Orochimaru was allowed to escape. Now that he was Hokage, Kakashi had certain duties to the common people of the village, who were also his comrades. Besides, Orochimaru most likely would have given that ANBU a much worse fate than death if the Sannin was allowed to escape with his captive.

Orochimaru suddenly began coughing violently, and the Sannin's mouth widened to an inhuman extent. Kakashi's eyes grew wide as he leapt backwards, barely avoiding Orochimaru's strike as the Sannin emerged from his old body's mouth.

"So you did predict that I would kill that ANBU," Kakashi spat. Orochimaru had to have prepared the Oral Rebirth technique in advance, as he couldn't have done it after he had already been skewered.

Orochimaru laughed. "You Hokage are always so easy to read. Don't be too hard on yourself."

Shikamaru's shadows began racing towards Orochimaru, but the Sannin spun around and sent an arm of snakes into the lantern which stood on the desk. The lantern crashed into the ground, plunging the area into darkness and erasing the shadows.

In the resulting confusion, Kakashi heard a ripping noise before he sensed a presence rushing towards him. Before he could react, Yamato yelled out a jutsu and erected a wooden wall in front Kakashi. A dull thud resounded as Orochimaru smacked into the wood.

Kakashi fired up another Lightning Blade to provide some illumination and leapt out from behind the wooden wall. As the blue lightning crackled and spread light throughout the room, Kakashi noticed that the third ANBU was now dead and that Shikamaru and Yamato were also behind the latter's wooden wall.

Kakashi whirled around and kicked his senses into overdrive as he tried to locate Orochimaru. Unfortunately, it seemed as if the Sannin had managed to escape.

"Shikamaru, alert all ANBU in the village about Orochimaru's escape. Yamato, put the village on lockdown and seal off all the exits," Kakashi ordered, urgency plain in his voice.

The two shinobi nodded and sped off to perform their duties, leaving Kakashi alone in the subterranean lair.

The Hokage glanced at the bodies of the ANBU before allowing his Lightning Blade to peter out.

He clenched his fists in the darkness.

* * *

"I'm getting tired of this place," Hidan complained as he shifted the weight of his scythe to his other shoulder.

"Stop complaining. No one wants to hear your voice," Kakuzu said.

Itachi paid his companions no mind as he continued to watch the blue waves rolling around in the sea. The group sat on the docks of the small seaside town where they had stayed for the past few days, reluctantly awaiting their next orders.

"What's so interesting about the ocean, Itachi? Care to fill us in?" Hidan said.

Itachi wondered if he should even bother to reply. Instead, he turned around and looked at Hidan with a pair of Sharingan-bright eyes. Hidan frowned under his gaze and quickly shifted his gaze.

Itachi turned his attention back to the ocean. He smirked to himself at how much fear a single one of his glances could cause.

"I'm seriously about to just leave this shitty town," Hidan continued as soon as Itachi turned away.

"You know you couldn't do that even if you wanted to," Itachi replied. He watched as a single white seagull cut through the air.

"Hmph. Don't remind me."

Itachi suddenly got to his feet. "Someone is approaching."

The group turned away from the water to see a middle-aged man walking down the docks. He wore the plain brown clothes of a civilian, but by now the townspeople had learned to avoid the Akatsuki members, so it was strange to see one of them walking so fearlessly towards them.

"The fuck do you want?" Hidan called out as he let his scythe drop from his shoulders.

The man smiled as he approached. "Ah, hello. I'm glad I finally found you three."

"Who the fuck do you th-"

"So you were sent by _him_ , then," Kakuzu observed as he interrupted Hidan.

The man nodded and continued to smile. "Yes. Our master has new orders."

Kakuzu grunted. "Orochimaru is no master of mine."

"But you'll follow his orders anyway," the man said as his annoying smile refused to fade.

Kakuzu and Hidan looked ready to kill the man, and Itachi knew that if Orochimaru hadn't forced them to comply with any messengers or orders he sent, that man would have been nothing more than a stain of red on the wooden docks by now.

"Let's hear these orders, then," Itachi said.

"Lord Orochimaru has escaped from his prison in the Hidden Leaf," the man started. "He also wants you to know that the Leaf sent a squad to the Hidden Sound in order to look for the hostages."

"Was Kisame there?" Itachi asked.

The man smirked. "Kisame Hoshigaki was never sent to the Hidden Sound. The boat changed course midway through the journey and dropped him off with the hostage in the Hidden Mist."

"And Orochimaru couldn't have just told us that?" Kakuzu said.

Itachi frowned. There was no reason why Orochimaru would have hid that knowledge from them except to make them look like fools, which was something that Orochimaru would undoubtedly enjoy doing.

"Your orders are as follows: Hidan and Kakuzu, you are to head to the Land of Hot Springs in order to carry out another abduction mission. You will be provided with more details once you arrive there. Itachi Uchiha, you are to go to the Land of Frost and take the Frost Daimyo's daughter," the man said.

 _That is going to be difficult,_ Itachi thought to himself.

Word of the high-profile kidnappings had undoubtedly spread, meaning that the Land of Frost would be taking extra precautions. This abduction would also be far more difficult than the Earth Lord's son's, as Itachi had abducted that child while he was traveling with his father, meaning that there was less of a security presence than there would be in an actual castle. On top of that, the Land of Frost was a harsh country; even though it was spring, the mountainous terrain of the Land of Frost would be covered in snow and ice.

"Do not worry, Itachi. Lord Orochimaru will send someone over to assist you," the man said as if he had read Itachi's mind.

The man then began to walk away. "That will be all. I would suggest that you get moving immediately."

When the group was alone once more, Hidan started complaining again.

"The Land of Hot Springs? Why do I always get the worst assignments."

"Aren't you from there?" Kakuzu asked.

"Yeah, which is why I don't want to go back!"

Kakuzu sighed. "The real question is why I have to be stuck with someone as annoying as you." He then turned to Itachi. "Well, I suppose this is where we part ways."

Itachi nodded. "I suppose."

Kakuzu grunted and then walked away. Hidan watched him leave with disgust in his eyes.

"Fucking Kakuzu. That bastard is always trying to mess with me." He smirked as he hefted his scythe up onto his shoulders and turned to Itachi. "You've got a worse assignment than I do, to be honest. Make sure you don't die of frostbite out there."

"I'll try my best," Itachi replied. "Don't scald yourself in the springs."

"Heh, like a simple burn would do anything to me. I'll see you around."

Hidan then walked off, leaving Itachi alone with the sea. He watched it for a few more minutes before he too went on his way.

Itachi strolled through the seaside town, watching as the shops and stands that he had gotten to know over the past few days faded away in the distance. He passed by the inn he had stayed in, and he smiled briefly to himself as he remembered the beautiful cherry blossom tree inside.

Cherry blossoms always reminded him of Konoha, of his home. Everyday when he came home from the Academy or the Hokage Tower or the training grounds, he would pass by a small road lined with cherry blossom trees. The pink of the trees littered the walkway, and Itachi was always amazed whenever he passed by.

He suppressed the wave of sad nostalgia that had come with his thoughts. Itachi hadn't been home for years except for his two brief visits, and both times with the intention of kidnapping someone.

On his last short trip to Konoha, he noticed that the village had changed, as if it had been rebuilt from the ground up. He wondered if the Uchiha Compound was still there, though he didn't know if it would make him happy or sad if it was.

Once again, he pushed those thoughts out of his head. He had learned to live with pain for the past six years, and he wouldn't give in to despair now.

Itachi exited the small village and began following the dirt path that would eventually lead to the Leaf Village. Unfortunately, Itachi would have to take a fork in the road at some point because the Land of Frost was northwest of his current position, so he wouldn't be able to pass by his home.

As Itachi continued on in silence, he felt a presence emerge. Though he showed no outward change, his muscles tensed and his hands were ready to spring into action, whether it be by throwing a flurry of kunai or speeding through a series of hand signs.

The presence grew stronger, and Itachi relaxed somewhat. It was clear that whoever this person was, he or she did not plan on launching a surprise attack.

Itachi stopped walking when he heard the flapping of wings, and he looked up to see a large white bird descending towards him. The creature landed in front of him, and a man with long blond hair was seated upon the clay construction.

Deidara smirked. "Need a lift?"


	4. Akatsuki in the Snow

_Sorry about the long wait, but the next few chapters will be up much more quickly. Thank you to all those who have reviewed/followed/favorited._

* * *

"What do you mean 'he got away'?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"I mean exactly what I said," Kakashi replied.

The Hokage and Tsuchikage currently stood in a small clearing in a forest in the Land of Grass. Accompanying the Tsuchikage was a large, rotund man whose name Kakashi could not recall. Shikamaru had also tagged along, bringing the meeting to a total of four people, though it really should have been five. Kakashi was supposed to hand over Orochimaru at this meeting, but unfortunately, the Sannin had escaped, and Kakashi had the monumental task of explaining this mishap to Kurotsuchi.

The Tsuchikage glared at Kakashi. "That's not much of an explanation. Where's the Uchiha, then? Surely you didn't come to me empty-handed."

"Sasuke is innocent," Kakashi replied. "The fact that Orochimaru ran away should confirm this."

"That doesn't confirm shit!" Kurotsuchi shouted.

Kakashi sighed. The young woman had inherited all of her grandfather's rude stubbornness.

"You expect me to go back to my village with no hostage? What do you think the feudal lord is going to do to me if I let you get away with this?!" she continued.

"You're not letting us get away with anything, because we didn't do anything," Kakashi countered, frustrated with both the Tsuchikage and the memory of his own failure at apprehending Orochimaru. "Tell _that_ to your feudal lord, girl."

Kakashi heard Shikamaru let out a sigh, and he knew that he had made a mistake by saying that. The ground under him suddenly erupted outwards, forcing Kakashi to leap back to avoid the outcropping of stone that flew out of the ground under his feet.

A huge wall of rock then broke out of the soil in front of him and began rushing towards him, and Kakashi flew through some hand seals and then ran to meet the rock wall head on. He drove his lightning-encased fist through the rock, shattering it with ease. He continued forward, rushing towards the Tsuchikage. The Tsuchikage's companion appeared to be frozen, undoubtedly a result of Shikamaru's Shadow Possession technique.

Kakashi launched his Lightning Blade at Kurotsuchi, but the Tsuchikage ducked and retaliated with a savage kick, her foot encased in rock. Kakashi barely managed to avoid getting his head split open as he leaped over her, and when he landed behind her he shot a blast of fire towards her back.

Unfortunately for him, another rock wall blocked the Fireball Jutsu. Before Kakashi could prepare another Lightning Blade in order to break through the wall, the Tsuchikage's stone-encased foot smashed through her own rock wall and slammed into Kakashi's gut, sending him flying.

Kakashi painfully sucked in a breath of air as he roughly landed on the forest floor. To his horror, a dome of stone began to enclose him as he attempted to regain his bearings. He sped through a series of hand seals and dug into the ground. He then reappeared beneath Kurotsuchi, grabbing her leg from below.

He heard the Tsuchikage let out a small gasp as he attempted to pull her under, but Kakashi let go of her leg as he felt the force of another kick coming towards his exposed hand.

Though Kakashi had let go of her leg, the Tsuchikage had already launched another rock-enforced kick, and she couldn't stop the attack from landing. She grunted in pain as her stone foot smashed into her other leg where Kakashi's hand had been less than a second ago, and she fell to the ground.

Kakashi erupted from the ground and held a kunai to the fallen Tsuchikage's neck.

"You're still no match for me, Tsuchikage," Kakashi said, a smile hidden under his mask.

Kurotsuchi glared at him, but Kakashi felt her killing intent slowly fade away. He moved the kunai away from her neck and got to his feet, holding out a hand to help his opponent up. The Tsuchikage only offered him another glare as she got up with her own power.

"You've bought yourself some time, Hokage. But next time, I expect the feudal lord's son to be returned to us, or there will be consequences."

After Kurotsuchi and the other Rock ninja had left, Shikamaru walked over and sighed.

"Really, Kakashi-sensei? You just had to goad her like that."

Kakashi shrugged. "Let's just get back to the village. We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

He then coughed and felt the warm wetness of blood on his lips. He smiled to himself. "Also, I think that girl might have broken a rib or two."

"It's freezing out here. Fuck Orochimaru for sending us to this damn place," Deidara complained as he sat atop his clay bird and circled over the Frost Castle.

"At least it isn't snowing," Itachi said from his seat behind Deidara.

"I guess… I see a pretty good place to land on the eastern side of the castle, not too many guards and no archers. I'll drop you off there."

"Alright."

Deidara's bird started turning to the left and changed its course to hide behind a mountain as it descended closer to the castle. Once Deidara had the bird descend a good amount, he began flying towards the aforementioned section of the castle.

Frost Castle itself was enormous, and it was definitely bigger than the Forge Keep. The castle itself was made out of gray stone, but the battlements and balconies were covered with a blanket of pure, white snow. The sun was shining brightly, and the snow glittered under its powerful gaze.

The clay bird began approaching one of the large balconies located on what appeared to be the third floor of the castle. Four guards clad in snow white armor and armed with long spears stood watch, but Itachi noticed that they were not shinobi, which would make his task easier. Itachi blinked once, and the three tomoes of his Sharingan fused into one pinwheel.

Deidara got closer and closer to the battlement, and soon enough the guards noticed. They fumbled with their spears and got into a defensive position, but by then it was too late. Black flames swallowed all four guards, and they did not even have the chance to scream as they melted inside their armor.

Deidara had his bird fly right up next to the balcony, and Itachi leapt off and landed on the snowy stone walkway. Deidara flew off immediately afterwards. If he had stayed too long, he would undoubtedly be noticed. Also, Deidara's explosive tendencies would eliminate any hope of stealth, and stealth was the essence of this mission. The blond Akatsuki's main purpose in this task was to provide Itachi with an easy way into the castle, and he had accomplished that quite nicely.

After putting out the black fire, Itachi shut his eyes for a second in order to numb the stinging. He deactivated his Mangekyo.

 _It's still difficult to use the Mangekyo. I have to remember that I don't have regenerative capabilities this time._

Though Itachi's vision was perfect since being revived, he knew that if he overused his Mangekyo, he could experience difficulties later on. The Mangekyo also used a fair bit of chakra, and whatever jutsu Orochimaru had used to revive him did not help his chakra reserves.

He opened his eyes and walked past the burnt husks. The bodies would be discovered sooner or later, so he needed to complete his task quickly. He followed the walkway as it led inside the castle, and he was glad to notice that the inside of the castle was a good deal warmer than the outside.

The interior of Frost Castle was just as magnificent as the exterior. Tapestries with the symbol of the Land of Frost lined the walls, and the plush red carpet that covered most of the floor added a vibrant touch of color to the gray walls. Expensive chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and glass windows offered glimpses into the beautiful and snowy mountainous terrain which surrounded the castle.

Suddenly, Itachi felt the presence of someone approaching. The clanking of metal boots shortly followed, so Itachi guessed it was another one of the guards. Sure enough, an armored guard rounded the corner and drew his sword as he noticed the intruder.

Itachi's Sharingan began to spin, and within a second the man was unconscious. It appeared that these guards had no resistance to genjutsu, which was perfect for him. The only enemies he had to watch out for were the Frost ninja, who would put up more of a fight.

 _They might be able to last for a few extra seconds,_ Itachi thought as he smirked to himself.

He continued down the hallway, wishing that he had interrogated that guard about the princess' location before knocking him out. _Not that a simple guard would even know that information._

He would have to find someone such as a castle official or the captain of the guard in order to ascertain the location of his target, which would be troublesome. Nevertheless, he continued walking down the hallway, turning a corner and passing a large window which displayed a breathtaking view of the white mountains and a small village in the distance.

He gave the view one last look before he quickly spun around and came face to face with two ninja clad in white cloth and gray vests. He pulled out a kunai and deflected the flurry of shurikens that was sent towards him, but he then found himself in hand to hand combat with the two Frost ninja.

He blocked a series of punches from one of them while kicking the other in the chest, sending him rolling away. He then slammed an elbow into the one still engaged in combat with him, drawing blood from the nose and forcing the enemy ninja to retreat.

The two Frost ninja gathered themselves as they regarded him warily from across the hallway. Neither met his gaze, which showed that they were definitely more intelligent than the castle guards.

"Tell me where the princess is and I'll let you live," Itachi said.

His response was a volley of kunai enhanced by a wind style jutsu. It was difficult to maneuver in the relatively narrow hallway, but Itachi managed to slide underneath the kunai and simultaneously launch his own gale of wind at the two ninja.

The Frost nin were blown back by Itachi's technique, but they recovered quickly. One of them sped towards Itachi while the other began a series of hand seals. Itachi formed a shadow clone to deal with the one hanging back while he engaged in close combat with the other.

The Frost ninja was no slouch, but avoiding eye contact while in the middle of a taijutsu bout wasn't easy. After a quick exchange of punches, Itachi positioned himself in front of the Frost ninja's face, forcing him to look away. Itachi took that moment to drive a kunai into his opponent's stomach. The ninja's white clothing began turning red, and Itachi ripped the kunai out and slashed the man's throat, ending him.

He glanced across the hallway and saw his clone holding a kunai to the remaining Frost ninja's neck. Itachi walked over.

"My offer still stands. Tell me where the princess is and I'll let you live."

The lower half of the Frost ninja's face was obscured by a white mask, but Itachi could still read the mixture of fear and anger in the man's eyes.

"Go fuck yourself," the Frost nin spat.

Itachi decided not to waste anymore time talking, so he put the ninja under a strong genjutsu. The Frost ninja's eyes froze for a moment before glazing over.

"The princess is located in the throne room," the ninja said before falling unconscious.

Itachi was a bit surprised that the man actually knew where the princess was, but he then wondered if he could even trust that information. It was very possible that the Frost King told his shinobi the wrong information in case they were captured.

He glanced at his clone, and the clone nodded. The clone slit the Frost ninja's throat, soaking the already red carpet with blood before disappearing. Itachi did not like killing when he didn't have to, but he had no choice in this case. Ninja recovered from genjutsu much more quickly than the average person did, so it would have only been a few minutes before the unconscious Frost ninja awoke and alerted the entire castle.

Despite the possibility of a trap, Itachi decided that the throne room was the best lead he had. Even so, he didn't quite know how to get there. He assumed it would be somewhere towards the center of the castle, probably on one of the lower floors considering that people often came to the throne room to voice their complaints to the king and couldn't be expected to wander up the castle to get there.

Itachi followed the hallway until he got to a staircase. He continued following the stairs downwards, luckily not encountering any resistance on his descent. When he got to the first floor, however, he was met with a kunai which came thrusting at his face.

Itachi quickly countered with one of his own kunai, and the Frost ninja leapt backwards after noticing the Sharingan. Itachi threw the kunai, but the enemy ninja jumped out of the way.

Itachi frowned. It was only a matter of time before someone found the trail of bodies he had left behind, so he needed to deal with this opponent quickly.

He reluctantly activated the Mangekyo and burnt the Frost ninja to a crisp with one glance. He then put the flames out and stashed the burnt body under the staircase. He then continued onwards, hoping to avoid seeing anymore ninja on his way to the throne room.

Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed as he turned a corner and found six ninja waiting for him, accompanied by five castle guards.

Itachi sighed. _At least this means I'm getting closer to the throne room._

He formed two shadow clones, the maximum he could manage without stretching himself too thin. One of the clones leapt towards the guards, intending to put them down with genjutsu, while the other engaged three of the Frost ninja.

Itachi himself also took out another kunai and faced off against the remaining three. One of the ninja launched a fireball technique towards Itachi, but the Uchiha prodigy shut it down with simple water style jutsu. He then sped towards the group, tossing a smattering of shuriken in order to get them off balance.

The Frost ninja dodged the shuriken, but Itachi followed up with Phoenix Flower Jutsu, forcing the three ninja to split up and leaving black marks on the plush red carpet. Itachi then pointed a finger at one of the three enemies, capturing him in a genjutsu that lasted for a few seconds. Unfortunately for the Frost ninja, a few seconds was all Itachi needed.

A kunai flew towards Itachi, but the Akatsuki member deflected it with his own at such an angle that the projectile pierced into the genjutsu'd Frost ninja instead of its intended target.

 _Two left._

Itachi rushed one of the remaining ninja and engaged her in taijutsu, easily overpowering the Frost ninja with a combination of Sharingan precognition and the threat of genjutsu. Itachi kneed the ninja in the gut and then kicked her in the back of the neck, sending her to the ground.

 _One more._

The remaining Frost ninja had used the few seconds it took Itachi to deal with the second enemy to launch another fireball at him. Itachi flew through some hand signs and countered the fireball with a second blast of water.

"Impossible!" the enemy ninja shouted as he lost his composure, clearly shocked that Itachi had managed to go through the hand seals so quickly.

Itachi Uchiha took that moment to launch another jutsu, this time a wind style one which slammed into the ninja and tore his clothing. The Frost ninja hit the wall with a resounding thud, and Itachi knew he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

He took a look at the rest of the battlefield and saw that all the guards were down and that his two clones were busy finishing off the last Frost ninja.

When the final Frost nin fell, Itachi's clones disappeared and the man himself continued onwards. Itachi walked through the hallway and arrived at a large wooden door, seemingly indicating one of the entrances to the throne room. He formed another shadow clone and sent it through the door, trying to gauge how many enemies were located inside.

A short clash of metal followed and then Itachi felt his clone disappear. He had made that clone weaker than usual in order to conserve chakra, but even so, it had been dealt with fairly quickly.

Itachi formed another weak clone and sent it through the door, but this time he followed behind, hoping that the enemies in the room would attack the clone first and only notice him afterwards.

When Itachi entered the throne room, he was surprised to see it was mostly empty.  
The room itself was spacious, and large windows on either side of the room let in light from the outside, not that the room needed it considering the lavish chandeliers which hung from the ceiling. Like the rest of the castle, marvelous tapestries depicting snowy landscapes hung from the walls, and one with the symbol of the Land of Frost stood directly over the throne.

Seated on the throne was a young woman with brown hair and resolute blue eyes. She was dressed in an expensive-looking white, blue, and silver robe, and Itachi guessed that she was the feudal lord's daughter.

However, in front of the girl stood a man with gray hair and matching gray eyes. Though his face was beginning to wrinkle, his body appeared to be muscular and poised to strike at any moment. He wore the standard white and gray of the Frost shinobi, but Itachi could tell from the man's killing intent alone that he was no ordinary ninja.

Itachi was snapped out of his thoughts as his clone was demolished with a single kunai to the throat.

 _He's fast,_ Itachi observed.

He glared the old Frost ninja with his Sharingan-bright eyes, but he was surprised to see that the man did not turn away. Itachi tried a mid-level genjutsu, but the illusion slid off the man like water on stone.

 _So he's proficient in dispelling genjutsu as well…_

While most of the Frost ninja Itachi had faced so far had been chunin to low-jonin level, this man was clearly an experienced jonin and much more powerful than the others.

Itachi glanced at the daimyo's daughter. She still sat on the throne, her eyes wide and worried and her hands clenching the armrests. He wondered why she hadn't tried to escape once he entered the throne room.

 _I suppose she has a lot of faith in her protector._ He smiled to himself. He liked a good challenge once in awhile.

The Frost ninja suddenly began a series of hand seals, and Itachi was surprised to see a large drill made of ice form around the man's right arm.

 _What?… Kekkai Genkai maybe?_

Itachi had no time to contemplate the jutsu any further as the man rushed at him. The Frost ninja launched a kick which Itachi easily ducked, but he just barely avoided being skewered by the ice drill. The frozen apparatus missed his head by a few inches, and he felt the cold chill from the weapon on his cheek.

Itachi leaped backwards and began forming hand signs. If the drill was made of ice, fire would melt it.

The Uchiha launched the Fireball Jutsu, but the gray-haired Frost nin countered with a blast of water from his mouth. Itachi noticed that his opponent could also make hand seals with one hand, which was impressive.

Itachi formed a shadow clone, and the clone jumped to the other side of the battlefield, encircling the enemy. Itachi began forming a wind style jutsu aimed at the Frost ninja's unfrozen side while the clone shot another fireball at the man's frozen arm.

The Frost ninja simply leapt above the attacks and nimbly landed in front of the throne, showcasing his impressive reactions. The Frost ninja then jumped towards the clone, shooting a blast of water at Itachi himself beforehand.

Itachi avoided the water style jutsu and looked over to see his clone stabbed in the gut by the ice drill.

 _My clones are getting weaker and weaker. I'm running out of chakra._

Itachi then felt a slight disturbance in his chakra, and he dispelled his opponent's genjutsu with little effort.

"... You're going to try genjutsu on me?" Itachi asked with a slight hint of amusement in his voice.

The veteran Frost ninja did not reply, instead choosing to shoot an enormous blast of water at Itachi. Itachi avoided it again, but as soon as he landed he found himself once again engaged in a taijutsu matchup with his opponent.

Despite the fact that the Frost ninja could not look into Itachi's eyes, he was still a formidable adversary, and Itachi was glad that he had Sharingan's precognition abilities to rely on. He dodged a punch and slid away from the ice drill, countering with his own combination of strikes.

The old man raised his drill and blocked most of Itachi's hits, but after a few more moments Itachi felt his fist connect with the man's stomach. The Frost ninja sucked in a breath and jumped backwards.

Confident that he had gained the upper hand, Itachi pressed on after his enemy. However, as he ran up to the Frost ninja, he suddenly found that he could no longer move. He glanced down at his feet and noticed that they were encased with ice.

 _I see. He allowed me to hit him to give off the impression that he was losing ground, but it was a ruse to lure me to the spot where his earlier water jutsu had landed. He then used the spilled water in order to freeze my feet with another one of his ice jutsu._

The Frost ninja then leapt at Itachi, his ice drill poised to strike the finishing blow. Itachi only had a few seconds left to counter.

 _He'll easily deflect any jutsu or kunai I throw with his own jutsu or his drill. I may have to use Amaterasu here, assuming that I don't pass out from chakra exhaustion the moment I activate Mangekyo… But there is one less risky option._

Itachi quickly grabbed two kunai out of his pouch, sending a flow of fire chakra into one of them while leaving the other one in its regular state. Chakra flow techniques were draining and difficult to pull off, so Itachi decided that one would be enough for his purposes.

Itachi watched the Frost ninja fly through the air, and he waited for the right moment. He then launched the regular kunai at the man, who deflected it with no effort. However, the other kunai, the fire-flow one, went elsewhere.

The flaming kunai was thrown upwards, and it shot through the air until it reached the golden chain that attached the huge, expensive chandelier to the ceiling. The fire-flow kunai cut through the chain, and the chandelier was in free fall.

The majestic chandelier fell through the air and smashed into the Frost ninja, who could do nothing to avoid it. Man and chandelier crashed into the ground together, and broken glass and blood erupted as the two objects impacted the thinly-carpeted floor.

Itachi smirked with satisfaction, but his expression quickly turned into a frown as he noticed the feudal lord's daughter rushing at him with a jeweled knife. Though his feet were still locked in place, he easily caught the girl's wrist and twisted it, causing her to cry out in pain and drop the knife. He then twisted her body, forcing her to look into his eyes and allowing him to knock her out with a simple genjutsu.

With the target more or less secured, Itachi pulled out another kunai and began channeling fire-nature chakra into it. He did it much more slowly and with less intensity this time so as to not drain too much chakra, as he only needed it to thaw his feet.

Unfortunately for Itachi, the multiple doors of the throne room burst open and groups of ninja and guards began pouring in.

 _I've barely got any chakra left, but Susano'o is the only way I survive this,_ he thought grimly as he watched the enemies assemble before him.

Just as he was about to try his luck with the Mangekyo, a white horse came galloping into the throne room. When it reached the crowd of ninja and guards, the horse exploded.

Screams, body parts, and blood spewed out from the explosion, and Itachi managed to release his bonds in the resulting confusion. His body ached and he could feel the onset of chakra exhaustion, but he forced himself to pick up the unconscious girl.

"Over here," a voice called out.

Itachi looked to one of the windows and saw Deidara hovering outside on top of his clay bird, the window broken and the glass lying on the floor. Itachi carried the girl over to the window and tossed her on top of the bird before getting on himself.

"Is that the daimyo's daughter?" Deidara asked.

"No, it's just a random serving girl I picked up," Itachi replied.

Deidara frowned. "You joke so rarely that I can't tell if you're being serious. We have to get out of here, though, so let's hope it's the girl."

The clay bird took off and a flurry of arrows followed it as it got higher into the air. Itachi deflected a few arrows with the last of his kunai as Deidara got them to a safe distance away.

Itachi turned his gaze away from the castle as soon as the arrows stopped flying. "How did you know exactly when to pick me up?"

"I was watching the guards on the battlements the whole time, and as soon as they started running inside I knew that you had been discovered," the blond Akatsuki explained. "Looks like even the great Itachi Uchiha needs rescuing sometimes, huh?"

Itachi didn't reply. _I came dangerously close to dying in there. Perhaps I should have just used Susano'o from the start and simply fought my way through the castle._

Deidara turned around to look at their captive. "She's pretty hot. Doesn't look anything like me, though."

"... Why would you expect her to look like you?" Itachi asked.

"The captain of the guards turned out to be a joker and said that I 'should be in a dress and not a cloak' because I looked so much like the daimyo's daughter. Needless to say, he got his head blown off."

Itachi stared at the girl. She had pale skin and dark brown hair, and she certainly didn't bear a resemblance to Deidara.

A sinking feeling then came over him.

"... We have the wrong girl."

Deidara shot him a look. "Wait, so you _weren't_ joking when you said that this was just a serving girl?"

Itachi grit his teeth. "Damn it. This girl was alone in the throne room, guarded by only one ninja. A powerful ninja, but still only one. Also, the feudal lord himself wasn't even there. It was almost as if they were using the girl for bait."

"Maybe they were. They probably thought they could lure you in and capture you, which they almost did," Deidara countered.

"No. They knew I would take her, and they wanted me to do so. They hoped that I would capture the fake and run away with her, leaving the actual daughter behind. The real daughter probably has blonde hair, which is why the captain of the guard compared you to her."

Deidara cursed. "Are you absolutely sure about this?"

"Yes, unfortunately," Itachi replied. He looked back at the snowy castle and the frozen landscape. "It appears we'll be here for a little longer."

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _\- Short note: in the Frost Castle, there were both ninja and guards. The ninja were trained shinobi and generally more powerful than the guards, who are just regular soldiers. The man Itachi fought was the captain of the ninja guards while the man Deidara mentioned was the captain of the regular guard. Just thought I would clear that up in case there was any confusion._


End file.
